Secretary of State Colin Powell held out hope Sunday that a majority of U.N. Security Council members would vote for an ultimatum giving Saddam Hussein until March 17 to prove he has disarmed. But Powell acknowledged that some permanent council members remain opposed and could veto it.
Powell said on NBC's "Meet the Press" that he was "encouraged by discussions I've been having with a number of members of the council" in recent days. But, he said, there are "some members of the council, permanent members who are firmly against."
Among them: France, Russia and China, which could each veto the new resolution. "I think most of the elected 10 members are making up their judgments, their minds over this weekend and I've been in close contact with them," he said. "I'm encouraged we might get the nine or 10 votes needed to get passage of the resolution, and we'll see if somebody wants to veto."
Powell said on CNN that the United States is "making some progress" toward winning some Security Council members over.
Powell offered a series of reasons to explain the strong opposition at home and overseas to war with Iraq, and predicted public opinion would swing the administration's way. "People are not willing to face up to what we are willing to face up to, and that is in the case of Iraq we have a dictator who for 12 years has denied the legitimacy of the United Nations," he said. "People are talking about the United States somehow affecting the United Nations in a negative way. It is Saddam Hussein who ignored the legitimacy of the United Nations for 12 years and some 16 resolutions."
Asked whether the tide of opposition was a failure of diplomacy, Powell said the United States still enjoys "strong support from most European nations."
"It is time to take (Saddam) to account, and I regret that not all nations understand that and all peoples understand that in those nations," he said.
"As a matter of war and peace, most people would prefer to be on the side of peace — I would prefer to be on the side of peace." War, he said "is always unpopular — I've seen it in a number of crises, whether it was going into Panama or the Gulf War, where public opinion is against you until the moment of truth comes when you go in and you find out what they have really been doing, you liberate a people and you create a better life for that country, for the people of that country — then you see that public opinion will change."
Meanwhile, British Prime Minister Tony Blair Sunday suffered the first government resignation over the Iraqi crisis. Andrew Reed, the Labour MP for Loughborough, confirmed that he was quitting as Parliamentary Private Secretary to Environment Secretary Margaret Beckett.
He was one of several PPSs identified as objecting to British troops taking part in military action against Iraq in the absence of a second UN resolution. Reed noted, however, that he did not want to undermine Blair's efforts to resolve the Iraqi crisis through the UN.
In a statement on his website, the MP said he would step down from his post formally Monday and would post a statement at noon on his site explaining why.
Reed added: "I will set out my full reasons for resigning, but I fully support the Prime Minister in his efforts to find a peaceful solution to the Iraqi crisis through the UN route. I do not want to do anything that undermines that effort at this stage."
Blair could face further resignations if he orders British forces into war with Iraq without having secured a second resolution from the UN, the British media reported on Sunday. (Albawaba.com)
© 2003 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
